Brands Hatch (GP) - BSB
Coming into this round I knew it was going to be tough to get on the pace because I hadn't rode a bike for 5 weeks and I had only rode the daunting grand prix circuit once.

Going into free practice, the track was slightly damp so I took it steady to make sure my shoulder was ok for me to ride and also to give some feedback on the bike. The track was completely dry on the Indy circuit but it was damp in the woods. As the session moved on, the track started to dry and I pitted to have a chat with my dad about how the bike was feeling. The bike was feeling good so I went back out and started to push a little harder. I shaved 3 seconds of my previous best time with a 1.36.8. This put me 28th in the session which I was fairly happy about.

The track was dry for first qualifying and I went out. My head was in the wrong place. All I could think about was my Knockhill crash. I had no confidence in my riding at all. I was tense on the bike and kept making silly mistake, I came away with 36th on the grid. My best time was a 1.35.4. I was gutted after the session but we had a long chat afterwards and decided that I had to finish the weekend up right to gain some confidence and build on this for Cadwell.

Going into second qualifying the track was red hot so I knew the chances of anyone improving were slim. I thought about my riding and tried to be smooth. I improved my time to a 1.34.8 but my position stayed to 36th.

In morning warm up I kept chipping away at my times and almost equalled my qualifying times which I was chuffed about. I posted the 31st best time of the session.

In the race, 4 riders dropped out in front of me so I was promoted to 32nd on the grid. I made a good start in the race and got boxed in on the inside line at paddock hill, I moved to the outside and made a few places up, coming out of graham hill, Mike Booth crashed his Honda and the race was red flagged. Mike has injured his pelvis as a result of the accident, I wish him a speedy recovery.

In the re-start I made a good start and was aggressive around the first few corners and made up a few places. I noticed my right clip on move around as I braked for paddock hill on the 3rd lap. I hoped that it would hold up for the race. I carried on working my way up the field. I felt so much better on the bike and the things started to flow nicely. I found myself in 22nd and battling for 19th in the race. But as I braked for paddock hill with 2 laps to go my right clip on moved in forwards and at that point I decided to call it a day and pulled into the pits.

Looking back at this meeting, I knew that I had to stay out of trouble and not to crash. My confidence has grew and I now feel a lot more at home on the bike. I never thought that my crash would affect me but I need to recover from it and make amends. The next round is at Cadwell park on August bank holiday weekend. We have some testing planned before hand.

Fundraising night...
The fundraising event had finally arrived and we was hoping that all the effort to organise the event with selling tickets etc would be worth it. The turn out from the night was fantastic with over 100 people attending it filled the function room and we all had a great night.

Included with the fantastic band, an auction was also featured with contributed to the money made. The grand total for money made was £875, which is a great contribution to Tom Young racing.

A big thanks goes to Ian Richardson and his band and also a big help to Joe Richardson and Natasha Blanchard for helping out with making posters and tickets and distributing them!

On the injury side of things, my shoulder is almost back to fitness after another visit to Brian Simpson in Ipswich. I am happy with the progress being made and looking forward to a good weekends racing at Brands Hatch next weekend.

Tom

Knockhill - BSB
Coming into this round I knew I had something to prove to everyone and that was to try and show that I could still run up at the front. After a Thursday night track walk with one of Knockhill's most experienced competitors Bob Grant, current National Superstock 1000 championship leader Alistar Seeley and fellow competitor Stuart Elwood. I was looking forward to taking on board what I had learnt and to riding the next day. The day was dry on Friday but we weren't due to take to the track till 5.30 pm for practice and as the forecast predicted the rain started at 1pm and didn't stop. This caused for our practice to be cancelled and it was scheduled for 8.35am the next day, early to bed!

The bike felt good in practice and I slowly picked up my pace but my right arm being to seize up and I found it difficult to push any harder. I ended the session in 20th place out of 42 riders so I felt confident that I could get my act together for first qualifying. My lap time was a 54.1. Just 0.1 faster and I would of been in the top 10!

In first qualifying the conditions were good and I went hard from the start, after 7 laps I felt in a good rhythm and I was saw P6 on my pit board. As I entered SEAT curves on my 8th lap I saw a queue of traffic in front of me, I planned to pit and to get refreshed for a late charge for the front 2 rows. As I came round the chicane I think I wasn't fully concentrating on where I was going, and the bike spat me up in the air and hit me a few times. I noticed I couldn't get up so I thought I was winded. I climbed over the barriers and I knew I had a problem with my shoulder. When I got back to the medical centre I found out I had broken my right collarbone. I was gutted with the result but I guess that's just racing!

On Monday I went to see Keith Brian in Ipswich. He performed laser surgery on me and already my collarbone is healing well. I'm hoping to be back out on the bike in 3 weeks time at Brands Hatch MRO, which is a full circuit that I need to learn in order to be competitive at BSB 2 weeks later. So fingers crossed I'll be fit.

Snetterton - BSB
I was confident of a good result at this meeting after my good form a few weeks before at the MRO meeting held there. In first practice we tried a variety of new settings and I came in 3 times to keep making adjustments, in the end I found that I found a set up that I liked and I pushed hard to do my fastest lap of the session on my last lap of a 1.11.3. This put me 4th overall in the session, this gave me good confidence for the first qualifying held later that day.

With 50 entries battling for a place on the grid, it was going to be tough to find some clear track around Snetterton. I found myself in the middle of a herd of traffic at the start of the session so I pitted, and had a chat with my dad about how the bike was feeling and what sort of times the front runners were doing. I went out and rode as hard as I could, I saw P4 on my pit board. I kept on pushing but I found that as I pushed coming out of the Bomb hole the wind was sending the bike wild and rear end of the bike felt loose. I ended up slipping back to 9th, with a best time of a 1.10.6.

We made some changes to the bike and took the rear shock out to get it serviced by K-tech. The second qualifying was held the next day and just before we went out, it rained at one end of the circuit making it impossible to push for a good time, because one end of the circuit was wet and the other dry, I had brand new wet tyres in the wet bike and didn't want to destroy them on the dry parts of the track. I ended up watching the session from pit wall and called it a day, no one else went any faster so no dramas there.

In race, I was nervous on the start line, I knew that this could be one of my best chances of running up the front this year so I had to get out there and ride the race of my life. I made a great start and was 10th after the first lap. I passed championship leader Patrick McDougall into sears and James East went wide coming out of Russell's chicane on the 2nd lap so I was in 8th. Nikki Coates went wide at Richie's corner on lap 3 so I went up the inside of him and was running in 7th and with the lead group. I decided to wait and see what the leaders were doing and if I could make a pass on them towards the end of the race, my back tyre was feeling good and I knew it would last the race distance. On lap 7, Nikki Coates returned the favour to me at Richie's corner, forcing his way up the inside of me, putting me on the dirty part of the track while still braking, the front end tucked and I was flying into the distance. My race was over.

I was disappointed with the outcome of the race but I now know I can run up at the front of this ultra tough series, I don't have a lot of experience at the next 3 race circuits on the calendar but fingers crossed will still be up there!

Thruxton - BSB
Thruxton was always going to be a tough meeting for me. I had never even seen the track before. In the first practice it became clear that we were in trouble, I finished the session in 40th place. With a 1.25.9, the bike simply wouldn't turn and it felt like I was trying to throw me in the air in the fast sections of the track. We made some changes and going into first qualifying I rode my hardest and came away with 36th my times improved to a 1.22.9. The bike still didn't feel comfortable so we made some more changes before the second session.

The rear end still wasn't feeling stable around the fast bumpy sections of the track and I slipped back to 38th place on the grid. With an improved time of a 1.22.6.

I made a good start in the race but there was a pile up at the first corner, this caused for me to sit up and the safety car was out for 5 laps while the wreckage was cleared up. I got my head down and started picking off riders. I finished the race in 24th place. A result I was happy with, considering the weekend that we'd had. Between Thruxton and Snetterton we have some testing planned in order to try and gain a better setting for the bikes.

Donington Park - BSB
I was nervous going into this event, with 50 riders entered and only 40 places on the grid, it was going to be tough. In first practice, I was struggling to turn the bike in the fast sections and I felt the gearing was wrong. I finished the session 33rd with a 1.41.8, 0.3 slower than a test day there 2 weeks ago. After some wise words from some of my well trusted friends in the paddock and some set up changes made with the team I was sure I improve my performance drastically.

In first qualifying later that day, I , I got my head down and went as hard as I could which proved to work well. I came into the pits to see that I was running 17th in the session with 8 minutes to go, I was struggling for rear end grip so my Dad backed the re bound on the rear suspension off slightly, I went back out and found the changes had worked but I struggled to find any clear track, I posted my personal best time of a 1.39.8 and ended the session in 24th.

The next day was scorching hot, I got my head down in qualifying, but it was plagued with yellow flags and everyone seemed to slow down for them while I was still trying for a good lap, the bike felt good but I slipped back to 28th on the grid. Only managing to slightly better my time, however I was over the moon to of qualified above the top 30 places otherwise this would of put me in place for the dreaded shoot out race which would mean I would have to finish top 10 in.

In the race, I got a blinding start, Nikki Coates on his raceways Yamaha crashed at Redgate corner for the first time, I had to sit the bike up to avoid him and lost places and time in the process, I rode my hardest and made up some places along the way, during the race I was suffering from arm up in the hard braking sections on the track. I think this was mainly down to not being relaxed enough on the bike and this caused for my arm to cramp. I finished the race in 25th and I slightly improved my lap times to a 1.39.6.

Oulton Park - BSB
The entry list saw 58 riders and only 40 places on the grid. Qualifying would be a big achievement in this tough class. First qualifying went well, I was running 17th when the session was red flagged with 8 minutes to go. As the session was re started I found it hard to find any clear track and in that time I lost 8 places, putting me back to 28th place, never mind still a good result my best lap time was a 1.45.2.

In the second session I needed to post a time that would put me in the top 30 in order to avoid the last chance qualifying race. On my 3rd lap of the session, a bolt came loose in my steering damper which caused me to crash at the hairpin, I was gutted. I ended up 38th overall, this placed me in the shoot out race, I had to achieve a top 10 result to make the main race.

I got a good start and was running 8th in the race, on the second lap another rider came to pass me at Hizzy's chicane, contact was made and we both had to take to the grass to avoid crashing. As I got back on I was 14th and crossed the line in 13th. This was a huge disappointment for me, I felt that I had so much more to show at this meeting but I guess it just wasn't to be.

Brands Hatch - BSB
I was nervous coming into my first BSB meeting. With a bumper entry list of 56 riders, I would of been more than happy to accept a place on the grid. I went into free practice with aims of getting familiarised with the circuit and seeing how I fared against the competition. I tired my best to up my pace but every time I came round clearways the rear end kept stepping out on me. I tried to adjust my style but it just wasn't working. I came in after the session with changes to make before first qualifying. I ended free practice 18th out of my group with a best lap of a 51.00.

Conditions were mixed for first qualifying. As week took to the circuit, rain began to slowly fall on the circuit. My rear end problems returned and I think that the weather also played with my head a little. I ended the session in a lowly 21st place with a best lap of a 50.5. To make the race automatically I would need to make the top 14 in my group to avoid the dreaded shoot out race.

In second qualifying I rode as hard as I could. The changes we made to the bike slightly improved the rear end grip issues we were having. I cut 0.3 off my lap times to end the session in 16th. I was in the shoot out race, for this I would have to finish in the top 10 in order to make it to the main race. I had qualified 8th, I made a rocket start as the lights went out I was running in 6th, till I tried to make a launch up the inside of a rider in clearways. I hit the rider by mistake and it almost took us both out, we both managed to stay on and I rode hard to catch the pack up, I finished the race in 10th. I was relieved to of qualified for my first BSB race. It felt as though someone had taken a big weight off my shoulders.

Going into the main race, I made a good start and made up some places on the first lap. I was starting to catch the pack in front when on lap 7 the race was red flagged due to a huge 5 rider pile up at clearways. My start wasn't so good for the restart as I began to make progress, I started making mistakes and lost touch with the pack in front. Before I knew it the race was over. I came home in 31st place. I was disappointed with my result but I achieved my aim and that was to qualify for my first BSB race. Bring on Oulton park!